Speak Good English

Good English
'Good English' can be identified when:

verbs are marked as singular/plural, past tense, etc. (e.g. 'Jenny loves oranges', 'We talked to him yesterday');
nouns are marked as singular/plural (e.g. 'Khai Meng has two dogs');
sentences are usually joined up clearly (e.g. 'If you are tired, don't do any more' instead of 'Tired, don't do any more');
endings like 'lah', 'lor', 'leh', 'what' are not used; and
very informal Singlish words are avoided (e.g. 'koyak, 'bochap').

Educational/Social Settings
In educational, and more formal types of social settings, it is important to use good English when we want to communicate clearly and precisely. When we speak well, others can understand us more easily. Using Singlish in educational and formal social settings may give the impression that we are not proficient in English. A student who uses Singlish in the classroom may be thought to have less academic potential than one who speaks good English.

A Seminar Tea-Break
This is a semi-formal setting, where the seminar participant meets the lecturer at a seminar.

Mrs Zainab = Lecturer, Michael = Participant
Mrs Zainab: Hi! I haven't seen you in quite a while! How have you been?
Michael: Me ah? Okay lor.
Mrs Zainab: You weren't here for the last seminar session. Where have you been?
Michael: My parents want me to take them on holiday.
Mrs Zainab: Oh, I see! Where did you go?
Michael: My family at first don't know where to go one. So, think-think-think. My father say want to drive up to Malacca. My mother say want go Penang to see auntie. So talk-talk-talk until I got headache then I say, 'Go Penang can stop Malacca what!' All like my idea, but in the end kena take coach, father say cannot drive so far away.
Mrs Zainab: Sorry, who did you go to Penang with?
Michael: Oh, father, mother, myself, sister, auntie and maid.
Mrs Zainab: Did you have a good time?
Michael: Okay lor.


Too many 'ahs' and 'lors' are not appropriate in this semi-formal setting. Michael gives the impression that he is not serious, and may even appear flippant.

'Want' or 'Wanted'?
The verbs used should be consistent with the time of the action. Since Michael is mainly telling Mrs Zainab about what happened in the past, the past tense forms of the verb should have been used. For example, 'want' and 'don't know' should be in their past tense forms, 'wanted' and 'didn't know'.

'Think-think-think'
Michael used a Singaporean way of telling Mrs Zainab that something continued for a long time by repeating the verb: 'think-think-think' and 'talk-talk-talk'. To communicate this in a professional manner, we should say, 'They thought about it for a long time' or 'They talked on and on about it'. The '-ing' form of the verb is also useful for signalling this, as in 'They kept thinking about it' or 'They went on talking about it' or 'They were talking about it'. Another way of doing it which is more informal is to use the verb twice, joined with 'and', as in 'They thought and thought about it' or 'They talked and talked about it'.
Possible Alternative
Mrs Zainab: Hi! I haven't seen you in quite a while! How have you been?
Michael: I'm fine, thank you!
Mrs Zainab: You weren't here for the last seminar session. Where have you been?
Michael: My parents wanted me to accompany them on a holiday.
Mrs Zainab: Oh, I see! Where did you go?
Michael: At first, my family didn't know where to go. So, they kept on thinking about it. My father wanted to drive up to Malacca. But my mother wanted to go to Penang to see my auntie. We were talking about it until I got headache. Then I said, 'If we go to Penang, we can surely stop in Malacca as well!' Everyone liked my idea, but in the the end, we had to take a coach, because my father said it was too far away to drive.
Mrs Zainab: Sorry, who did you go to Penang with?
Michael: Oh, my father, my mother, my sister, my auntie and our maid.
Mrs Zainab: Did you have a good time?
Michael: It was okay.





Mohd Hata Rahmad, 38 years old.
President, Hip-Hop Club and the “Father” of Break-Dancing in Singapore
Assistant Engineer, Singapore Technologies
“I was a very playful boy when I was in primary school. I was more interested in play rather than reading or learning English. But things changed when Mrs Ee, my English teacher in Primary 2 and 3 at Alexandra Hill Primary School, came along. Mrs Ee loved to tell stories which I enjoyed listening to. I was able to relate to her. She encouraged and motivated me to pick up reading. It was Mrs Ee more than anyone else, who taught me to speak good English.

As a father, I speak and read to my 12-year old daughter as much as I can. In my free time, I take her to the Bukit Batok Community Library at West Mall to borrow books. I will certainly do the same for my second daughter who’s on the way!

English is very important as it is a universal language. As an Assistant Engineer, I need a good command of English to communicate effectively with my colleagues and overseas’ clients
Extracted from: http://www.goodenglish.org.sg